Zaytoven Describes Creation of Gucci Mane's Next Album, Recorded in Under a Week

With Gucci Mane’s first album since coming home from prison, Everybody Looking, set to drop on July 22, all eyes are on the Atlanta rapper. Through a few singles, various Snapchat stories, and high-profile collaborations, we’ve seen Guwop hard at work since he’s returned home—but it’s yet to be seen how his three years behind bars will affect his next project.

Zaytoven (one of the album’s primary producers along with Mike WiLL Made-It) gave some insight into the creation of Everybody Looking during a conversation with XXL.

“I think he came out with a clear mind and focused,” Zaytoven said of the difference between pre-prison Gucci and who he is today. “Even though he’s been locked up for so long, he sat and thought about all the songs that he wrote. A lot of the time, he might come in and rap in the spirit of the moment. But he took his time and effort on [this album].”

Revealing that the album was recorded in under a week, he said, “All he was waiting on was the beats. He had all his songs written already and me and Mike Will were already doing the music before he got out ‘cause we knew what he wanted to do. All it was from there was recording so it was easy.”

Of course, beyond Everybody Looking, the notoriously prolific Gucci already has his eyes on other projects. Those include collaborations with Drake, Young Thug, and Future, according to Zaytoven. He reveals that Drake and Gucci were discussing working on a collaborative project during the infamous mansion photo shoot a couple weeks back. Zaytoven adds that Young Thug has already recorded material for Gucci and he will “try to make sure of” a Future collaboration.